


Ignite

by 0bviousLeigh



Series: Yuma is a Girl [27]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Card Games, Gender or Sex Swap, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-29 09:29:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12627999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bviousLeigh/pseuds/0bviousLeigh
Summary: Yuma and Ryoga face each other in the semi-finals, but something isn't right.





	Ignite

**Author's Note:**

> Now we really get into the drama of the first series! This is the rewrite of episodes 61-62, and things are going to be very, very different.

The semi-finals have arrived. Yuma waits in the tunnel outside the duel field, unsurprised that Ryoga is her first opponent. She suspects Tron had a hand in making that happen. She adjusts the microphone on her d-gazer, gives the Key a tug to make sure the cord is secure, and looks up at Astral.

“Are you ready for this?” She asks him.

Astral smiles at her. “Are you?”

Yuma reaches for his hand and squeezes it. “You know the answer to that.”

 

* * *

 

“So, Yuma and Shark…er, Ryoga-san are dueling each other!” Tetsuo says with a laugh. “Boyfriend versus girlfriend, the crowd will love this.”

“But we already know how it’s going to turn out,” Tokunosuke says. “That makes it totally boring.”

Cathy growls. “Yuma’s dueling is never boring!” She cries. She rakes her nails down Tokunosuke’s face, making the people around them gasp in horror.

Kotori rolls her eyes. Yuma was pretty quiet when they all met up outside the stadium, and she didn’t mention Ryoga at all. She wonders if the two of them had some sort of argument. Yuma did seem upset when Ryoga said he would throw the duel. She looks out over the field. There’s a giant tower in the middle of the field, and there’s a few platforms attached to it. Even from her seat in the mid-rise of the stadium, she can’t see the top of the tower.

“Heeeeeeeeeeeart burning!” Mr. Heartland screams. The crowd cheers, and Kotori fights down a wave of nausea.

“Our first match-up today promises to be thrilling!” Heartland cries. “The young lovers that we watched raptly yesterday will now face each other, with their hearts on the line! The duel that promises to be as dramatic as Romeo and Juliet!”

Kotori folds her arms. “Yuma and Ryoga won’t let a duel destroy them,” she says crossly. “This is nothing like Romeo and Juliet.”

“On this side!” Heartland cries, “We have the girl who was unknown at the start of this tournament! The dark horse, the miracle girl…Tsukumo Yuma!”

Yuma cartwheels out of the field entrance. She performs an exaggerated curtsey, and then she turns to where Kotori and the others are sitting and blows a kiss.

“YUMA!!” They all scream, getting to their feet and waving at her.

She makes a heart with her hands, then turns and walks up the steps to the duel platform.

“And the boy who was knocked from the pro-circuit,” Heartland continues, “Who we have seen claw his way to the top in this tournament! Put your hands together for Kamishiro Ryoga!”

A few people scream Ryoga’s name as he walks, stone-faced, out of the field entrance and up the stairs to the duel platform. He doesn’t acknowledge anyone, not even Yuma.

“What the cat?!” Cathy hisses. “Isn’t he going to smile at her?”

“Now my heroes, step up to the field!” Heartland cries.

The two of them step up on top of the designated markers on the platform, and then the platform gives a shudder and starts to rise. Up, up, up to the top of the tower, so high that the only way anyone will be able to see the duel is through the cameras.

“How lame,” Takashi sniffs.

“So lame,” Tetsuo agrees.

Yuma takes the first turn. Ryoga is emotionless as she sets her cards. And then when it’s Ryoga’s turn, he recklessly attacks Yuma’s facedown monster and takes damage. He remains stone-faced even as he’s blown backwards by the rebound of the attack. He gets up, sets a card, and ends his turn.

Yuma attacks Ryoga relentlessly, even directly. Ryoga is blown backwards, and for a while, he stays down.

Kotori covers her mouth.

“Dang,” Tetsuo says. “I know Ryoga said he would throw it, but he’s not even trying.”

Ryoga hauls himself to his feet. “Yuma…” he growls. He looks up at her, his blank expression morphing into one of rage, “I’ll never forgive you!” He screams.

“SAME HERE!” Yuma screams back.

Kotori’s jaw drops. “Whaaaaaa?”

“D-did they fight?” Takashi asks.

Ryoga suddenly becomes just as relentless as Yuma was—he destroys her monsters, and attacks her directly.

“Jeez, treacherous like a cat,” Tokunosuke says.

Cathy inhales sharply, then rakes her nails across Tokunosuke’s face once more.

“Okay, that’s enough, you two!” Kotori snaps.

“What did I do?” Tokunosuke whines.

Yuma goes to attack Ryoga again, but Ryoga deflects her attack and inflicts damage on her. Yuma ends her turn, and then Ryoga brings all the pieces together to summon…

“Numbers 32! Shark Drake!” Ryoga screams.

Kotori gasps. “Could it be the Number?” She wonders, “Is it affecting Ryoga’s mind?”

Ryoga attacks with the monster, landing one blow, and he goes for a second attack that could end the duel right there, but Yuma fends him off with an excellent tactic. Kotori breathes a sigh of relief. Yuma’s turn begins, and she’s able to attack Shark Drake and deal some damage to Ryoga, though she doesn’t destroy the Number. She ends her turn, and Ryoga laughs, high pitched and cold.

“Now I’ll have my revenge,” He growls. “Shark Drake—Chaos XYZ change! Show yourself, Chaos Numbers 32, Shark Drake Vice!”

Kotori squeezes her eyes shut.

“What the heck is a Chaos Number?” Tetsuo asks.

Kotori whimpers. This was not how things were supposed to go!

Ryoga uses all of Shark Drake Vice’s overlay units trying to land an attack, and Yuma fends them off while weakening her only monster on the field. She manages to survive a final attack, but loses 500 of her remaining 900 life points.

“So you survive for now,” Ryoga says with a grin, “But next turn it’s over.”

“It ain’t over ‘til the Goblin King sings!” Yuma screams, and in spite of herself, Kotori manages to smile. That’s so Yuma.

Yuma summons Number 39, and in a move Kotori can’t understand, Yuma orders the weaker Number to attack Shark Drake Vice.

“Has she lost her mind?!” Tokunosuke screams, and Kotori throws her arm between him and Cathy before Cathy can rake her nails down his face again.

But then Yuma negates her own attack, and activates a trap which, when her monsters attack is negated, allows her to take control of the opposing monster.

“She’s taking Ryoga’s Number away?!” Tetsuo cries.

Shark Drake Vice disappears from Ryoga’s field and reemerges on Yuma’s side. Ryoga staggers backwards, and Yuma doubles over, clutching her chest and screaming in pain.

“YUMA!” Kotori shrieks, leaping to her feet.

The camera zooms in on Yuma’s face as she screams, and it’s more than Kotori can take. Just as Kotori is about to burst into tears, Yuma suddenly chokes and starts coughing. “Ah, oh god…” she gasps, “I choked on my own spit!”

Kotori freezes. The whole crowd seems to freeze.

Across the field, Ryoga laughs. A genuine, if somewhat incredulous, happy-sounding laugh. “Yuma, you absolute nerd!” He cries.

Yuma smiles and dramatically falls to the floor. “Oh, ow, help, my soul,” she says, hands over her heart. “Pain, blood, death, blah, blah, blah…”

Ryoga is cracking up. “I can’t believe he fell for it!” He cries.

Takashi points at the nearby screen. “What the heck is happening?!” He cries.

Kotori sways, suddenly light-headed. “They tricked us…” But then she remembers what Yuma said last night, that she was afraid Tron might try to pull something. She gasps, “No, they tricked Tron!”

Ryoga grins and holds out his hand. “I active the trap Marine Snow Seal and banish Shark Drake Vice! I take 1000 points of damage!”

But Ryoga only has 900 life points left—he’s thrown the duel.

 

* * *

 

 

As Ryoga’s life points drop, Yuma races across the field and flings herself at her boyfriend. “CATCH!” She screams as she leaps into his arms.

Ryoga, still reeling from the effects of Shark Drake Vice’s banishment, does not catch her, and they both go falling to the ground, with Yuma landing on top of Ryoga’s chest.

Ryoga wheezes. “Get off me, you freak.”

Yuma rolls off of him, giggling madly. “That was the worst acting I’ve ever seen in my life,” she tells him. “Where did you learn how to scream for revenge, because I was totally not buying it.”

“Where did you learn how to scream in pain?” Ryoga fires back. “Loser.”

“You’re the loser here!” Yuma cries. She gets up and dusts herself off, and Ryoga holds out his arms.

“Help me up,” he says.

Yuma takes his hands and hauls him to his feet, and when she’s sure he’s steady, she grabs him by the collar and hauls him in for a kiss. She hears a lot of confusion from the crowd, but above the murmurings, she hears an echoing crack.

Yuma and Ryoga stop making out and look towards the viewing room, where glass rains down.

“Uh-oh,” Yuma says. “Somebody’s having a temper tantrum.”

“What a baby,” Ryoga says, shaking his head. “But it’s his own fault. He actually thought he could make me believe that _you_ hurt Rio.”

Yuma snorts and leans into Ryoga, hugging him. “Clearly he doesn’t know that Labyrinth references are stronger than whatever mumbo-jumbo he has up his sleeve.”

And at the same time, Yuma and Ryoga shout in the direction of the viewing room, “You have no power over me!” And they stick their tongues out, knowing full well that Tron probably can’t see them anymore.

“Good lord,” Ryoga says as the platform begins to lower, “We are nerds.”

“Be proud of it,” Yuma says. “Own it, babe.”

“What babe?” Ryoga and Astral say together.

When the platform reaches the ground, Ryoga and Yuma are laughing so hard they can barely stand up straight. They cling to each other as they walk down the stairs, and the only thing that makes them stop laughing is Kotori, as she comes careening into them.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” She screams as she grabs Yuma’s shirt in one hand and Ryoga’s in the other. “Explain!” She orders, shaking them weakly.

“Oh man, she cursed,” Yuma says. “I’m sorry, I know we scared the bejesus out of you…”

“And unfortunately, I gotta go,” Ryoga says. “I want to be with Rio in case Tron is defeated and she wakes up.”

Yuma nods. “Yeah, you go, throw me to the wolves, it’s okay.”

Ryoga smiles and kisses her cheek. “I have faith in you,” he says, and he unhooks Kotori’s hand from his shirt and walks off.

Yuma waits to explain until she’s in the contestant’s lounge, surrounded by all her friends, who all look torn between relief and anger.

“Okay, so here’s what happened,” she says, “Ryoga called me this morning and said that Tron appeared to him in Rio’s hospital room. Tron did something creepy, he like, put his hands into Ryoga’s head and tried to mess with his memories. Ryoga could see that Tron was trying to make him think I had caused Rio’s accident, but he kept thinking ‘You have no power over me,’ over and over, until finally he was able to say something like ‘I’ll kill Yuma with my bare hands,’ and Tron backed off. So Ryoga kept his proper memories, but made Tron think his little brainwash trick had worked. He said that Tron even gave him some kind of card that would ensure that no matter what, I would lose. Ryoga told me he had a few ideas as to how this could play out instead, assuming he didn’t just walk out on the field and surrender. Because, by this time, he kind of figured Tron had somehow rigged the match-ups for today so that no matter what, I would be dueling Ryoga.”

Yuma smiles sheepishly. “It was my idea for Ryoga to go along with it. I thought if we could fool Tron into thinking he had won, then suddenly flip the script, it might throw him off enough that he would royally screw himself over in his duel with Kite.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Kotori asks.

“Well, Ryoga told me all of this over our secure communication device at like, 5 this morning,” Yuma says. “But I didn’t see you guys until we were already here and I was afraid that Tron like, had listening devices planted all over the stadium. I couldn’t risk him uncovering our plan. Or even if he didn’t have listening devices, he could have watched your expressions during the match and used it to judge if Ryoga and I were really fighting for real.”

“The flip-side,” Tokunosuke says. “That’s actually quite brilliant, Yuma!”

Yuma beams. “Why thank you!” She looks around at everyone. “I am really, really, really sorry that I made you all worry.”

“Aw, shucks,” Tetsuo says gruffly, “We can’t stay mad at you.”

“Speak for yourself,” Kotori says crossly. “I’m mad.”

Yuma pouts and folds her hands under her chin. “Please, please, please forgive me?” She begs, blinking up at Kotori.

Kotori wavers, and finally she hugs Yuma. “Oh, alright, I forgive you!”

Yuma squeals and hugs Kotori back. “You’re the best!”

But the celebration is short-lived, because Yuma has plans. “Go watch the duel,” she says. “I’ll see you out there!” She races out of the duelists’ lounge and back onto the field.


End file.
